U.S.

Twitter and Airbnb Founders Want to Build a Smarter City

Can mobile technology and big data help build a smarter city? Some of the world's brightest tech minds say "yes," especially when that city happens to be home to so many of them: San Francisco.

The above video features Twitter and Square's Jack Dorsey, Twitter's Biz Stone, Airbnb's Brian Chesky and Jawbone's Hosain Roman all giving their tech and mobile-based solutions to city dwellers' everyday problems. It's the project of angel investor Ron Conway, who made it to highlight his new tech advocacy organization, sf.citi.

"What we wanted to do was get visibility for sf.citi, which is basically the technology chamber of commerce of San Francisco," Conway told Mashable. "We wanted to release this video that talks about the possibilities of where tech can actually bring solutions to improve the quality of life in San Francisco."

Conway added that sf.citi already has 350 members, which he estimates to be "90% of the tech population in San Francisco."

The tail end of the video segues into a call for city residents to support Proposition E, a ballot measure that would shift San Francisco businesses from a payroll tax to a gross receipts tax. That would mean companies only pay tax on the profits it makes, adjusted by industry.

"The existing payroll tax disincentives job creation, because for every new job you create, it creates new taxes," said Conway. "With a gross receipt tax, companies will start paying based on revenue after they've developed products. This is important for all small businesses in San Francisco, and for the 90% of tech companies are fewer than 50 employees, which makes them a small business. The gross receipts tax is by far the standard way that cities tax businesses — San Francisco will be one of the last to do away with [the payroll tax]."

Mashable
is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company. Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.